Quick analysis: Upside Down & Inside Out
So, when is the last time FDCPA and TCPA lawsuits were up while FCRA lawsuits were down? (spoiler alert… you have to go back a full year, to March 2018). Defying all trends for the last couple of years, March 2019 did just that… with robust gains in FDCPA (+9.4%) and TCPA (+7.9%) and a significant drop in FCRA (-9.3%).
Totally, completely and utterly unrelated to consumer litigation… but if you want to see a really cool take on “Upside Down & Inside Out” take 3.5 minutes and check this out.
Back to business. A couple of other interesting sidenotes appear in this month’s report. First, in spite of the upticks in FDCPA and TCPA, everything is actually down YTD including FCRA lawsuits which started trending that way last month and whose fate was sealed by this month’s drop, and CFPB complaints which in spite of aggressive growth over the last few years has been crossing back and forth over the line in recent months.
In other news, putative class actions were pretty high last month with 18.4% of FDCPA, 41.8%(!) of TCPA and 8.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.
About 35% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.
And finally, David Scott Klain from Consumer Law Partners in Chicago represented more consumers than anyone else last month (33), while Delaware FCRA attorney Antranig Garibian holds the crown for most lawsuits of the year, with 123 consumers represented.
Current Month: |
Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: |
Year to Date Comp: |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 01, 2019 Mar 31, 2019 |
Feb 01, 2019 Feb 28, 2019 |
Mar 01, 2018 Mar 31, 2018 |
Jan 01, 2019 Mar 31, 2019 |
Jan 01, 2018 Mar 31, 2018 |
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CFPB | 4133 | 3834 | 7.8% | 5308 | -22.1% | 11136 | 14838 | -24.9% | |
FDCPA | 722 | 660 | 9.4% | 844 | -14.5% | 2099 | 2447 | -14.2% | |
FCRA | 350 | 386 | -9.3% | 372 | -5.9% | 1085 | 1102 | -1.5% | |
TCPA | 287 | 266 | 7.9% | 343 | -16.3% | 855 | 955 | -10.5% |
Complaint Statistics:
4133 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1207 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Mar 01, 2019 to Mar 31, 2019.
- 4133 CFPB Complaints
- 722 FDCPA, 133 Class Action (18.4%)
- 287 TCPA, 120 Class Action (41.8%)
- 350 FCRA, 30 Class Action (8.6%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1207 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 424, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3196 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 172 different US District Court branches.
- About 799 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 79 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 55 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 46 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 44 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
- 43 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 41 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 40 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 35 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
- 33 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
- 25 Lawsuits: Kentucky Western District Court – Louisville
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 33 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
- Representing 31 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 31 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 28 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
- Representing 27 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 25 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
- Representing 25 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
- Representing 25 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 23 Consumers: ANTRANIG N GARIBIAN
- Representing 22 Consumers: MITCHELL L PASHKIN
Statistics Year to Date:
3454 total lawsuits for 2019, including:
- 2099 FDCPA
- 1085 FCRA
- 855 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2019: 3474 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 123 Consumers: ANTRANIG N GARIBIAN
- Representing 92 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 79 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 77 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
- Representing 67 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 65 Consumers: MITCHELL L PASHKIN
- Representing 57 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
- Representing 56 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
- Representing 55 Consumers: YAAKOV SAKS
- Representing 52 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 4133 complaints filed against debt collectors from Mar 01, 2019 to Mar 31, 2019.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 793
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1213 Other debt (29%)
- 936 Credit card debt (23%)
- 850 I do not know (21%)
- 630 Medical debt (15%)
- 132 Payday loan debt (3%)
- 115 Auto debt (3%)
- 94 Federal student loan debt (2%)
- 90 Mortgage debt (2%)
- 73 Private student loan debt (2%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 1980 Attempts to collect debt not owed (48%)
- 867 Written notification about debt (21%)
- 442 Communication tactics (11%)
- 402 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
- 342 False statements or representation (8%)
- 100 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)
The top five subissues were:
- 1011 Debt is not yours (24%)
- 540 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (13%)
- 472 Debt was result of identity theft (11%)
- 411 Debt was paid (10%)
- 299 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (7%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 555 Complaints: TX
- 445 Complaints: FL
- 419 Complaints: CA
- 224 Complaints: GA
- 220 Complaints: NY
- 158 Complaints: MI
- 145 Complaints: PA
- 135 Complaints: OH
- 123 Complaints: IL
- 110 Complaints: NJ
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3069 Closed with explanation (74%)
- 576 In progress (14%)
- 364 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
- 99 Untimely response (2%)
- 25 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
This includes 3995 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 138 (3%) untimely responses.